Thursday, January 29, 2015

When the media gets as hot and bothered about a storm as
they did about this one, it brings out the skeptic in me. And if I lived in New
York City I’m sure I would be rolling my eyes and pooh-poohing the weatherman. But even so we went to the grocery store with
the other crazed masses and made sure our pantry was well stocked. A good time
to make spaghetti, Lee declared. Sounds good to me!

This storm developed off the east coast and headed north
from the Carolinas on Monday. They said all along that if it tracked a little
further to the east it might not be as bad, a little further to the west and it
could “be a storm of historic proportions”. Well down by New York City it DID
track a little to the east, but once passed Long Island it headed a bit to the
west, straight toward Boston and southern New Hampshire.

The storm started Monday afternoon. Fat lazy flakes started
drifting down around 2:30 in the afternoon. We took the dogs for a short walk
and then came home, hunkering down to wait and see what would happen. And
Monday night what happened was nothing much. There was maybe an inch of new
snow on the ground when we went to bed Monday night.

Tuesday morning was a different story. At 6:30 AM there was
13 inches on the ground. The snow was falling fast and furiously. I put on my
snow pants, my down coat, my boots and my ski gloves and went outside to clear
a little bit of a path for the dogs. I knew Lee would make a better path with
the snow blower later, but I had to do something until then.

I opened the door and told them to go out. I know that dogs
can sense the weather. Harper and Heather were both like “NO NO NO.” I had Lee
hand them to me and I made them go outside. I could make them go out, but I
couldn’t make them do their business. They weren't having any part of it and
scurried back inside as soon as I would allow it.

Cosmo on the other hand thought it was great, all the white
fluffy stuff to run through, sniff, dig and roll around in. He would have
stayed out longer, but it was cold and windy out there.

The rest of the morning we watched in amazement as the snow
just came pouring down. By 10:30 AM we had 24 inches! That’s over 2 inches an
hour, very impressive. But by 12:30 things had slowed down considerably. We had
25 inches by then and never really accumulated much more. In the cleared off
spaces several inches would appear, but in my measuring spot it wouldn’t
translate into much of anything. It was so light and fluffy that it just kept
on compacting.

Every three or four hours I’d get the dogs to go out and I’d
go out too. It was beautiful out there. Later in the afternoon when it had
slowed down I took my camera out and had fun taking pictures, but it kind of
made me nervous because it was getting wet. And my hands were freezing!

Wednesday morning I went out with my shovel and my big snow
boots. First I had to wallow through the snow to the bird feeder. The snow and
wind had glued it shut and the birds weren’t at all happy. The snow was up to
my thighs! I was glad it wasn’t very far away.

Then I shoveled the steps to the
driveway from the back yard. I knew where they were by the plow sticks but
otherwise I would have had no clue.

Same with the front steps; it looked like a
big mound of snow. As I cleared the front steps and the porch I started running
out of places to put the snow. I had mounds of snow that were as high as the
porch on either side.

Finally I had to dig out the propane tanks and the
generator. The propane tanks looks like three cone heads before I cleared them
off.

My total Wednesday morning was 26 inches. Nashua, New
Hampshire won the lottery with 33 inches of snow. 26 inches was enough for me,
thank you very much.

The papers are comparing this to the Blizzard of ’78. The
snowfall amounts are comparable, but there is one big difference. This time
they shut down the roads and ordered everyone to stay home. That way the
streets were clear and the plows could get through. Our street was drivable by
Tuesday afternoon. That’s New England for you. A little snow doesn’t slow us
down!

Friday, January 9, 2015

I actually have a pretty good new Years resolution this
year. Its not a concrete goal, not about completing another marathon, losing
weight, working out more, eating healthy; none of the things that make up my
usual sort of resolution. My New Years Resolution is to listen.

I got this idea, I must admit shamefully, from a Huffington
Post article on Facebook about ways to improve your marriage. Yes I know that’s
pretty trite! And yet, as I idly read through the list of suggestions, one of
them really stood out for me. They said to make the effort to put down that
book, tear yourself away from that little iPhone screen, and actually listen
when your spouse is speaking to you.

I know how guilty I am in this area. Half the time when Lee
is talking to me about something that interests him, he will be 3 or 4 sentences
into whatever he is talking about before I start to vaguely realize he is
trying to initiate a conversation with me. He gets frustrated when I have to
ask him to go back and start over once I realize he is talking to me. And then,
if the topic of conversation involves boat engines or spreadsheets it doesn't
take very long before my mind starts to wander again.

It’s all very well for me to MAKE this resolution, but how
am I going to implement it? Somehow I need to realize sooner that Lee is trying
to talk to me when my mind is elsewhere. And if what he is saying to me is
difficult for me to understand, instead of tuning out and nodding my head and
pretending to understand I can ask him to stop and explain what he is talking
about in a way that I can grasp.

I don't know if making a conscious effort to listen will
help, but like any bad habit, NOT listening is something I think I can unlearn.
Maybe slowly, bit-by-bit, I can train myself to hear him sooner. I’m going to
try anyway.

And really listening can have other implications as well.
Sometimes in social settings I get a bit anxious while making conversation, and
instead of listening to the other person I start worrying about what I could
say next to keep the conversation going. Maybe I can try to stop doing that as
much too.

And maybe sometimes instead of listening to the idle chatter
going on in my head, I can listen to what is going on around me, even when that
doesn’t involve another person. Is the wind blowing and whipping the pine trees
back and forth? Are the dogs sighing and making little noises in their sleep?
Would some music in the background improve the tempo and tenor of my day? And
sometimes, maybe that TV in the background should be turned off. Maybe those
little dogs should stop barking and relax! Maybe the silence should be enjoyed
as well. Listening more could have many implications!

I know this is a resolution that would be easy to cast by
the wayside after a couple of weeks. It’s a hard one, one that won't be easily
achieved in part, let alone in full, maybe ever. So I think it’s a good thing
that I'm declaring it in a blog post. Maybe one of you will ask me
occasionally, “hey, how is that listening thing going?” I hope I'll be able to
say it’s a work in progress, and not, “what??”

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About Me

I am a transplanted Midwesterner, living in New England and loving it. In the land of harsh winters, Robert Frost, ancient mountains, forthright people, majestic sea coasts, and lobster, I think I may have found a second home.